Phased retirement is facilitated and encouraged

Phased retirement is a transition from work to retirement. It thus allows insured persons (employees and self-employed) to receive part of their retirement pension while working part-time or exercising a reduced activity. Currently, to benefit from it, insured persons must be at least 60 years old, i.e., the legal retirement age reduced by 2 years, and have validated at least 150 quarters of pension insurance in one or more compulsory pension schemes.

The government wishes to encourage the use of phased retirement in order to promote the retention of seniors in employment. To this end, changes are being made for phased retirements taken on or after September 1st, 2023.

New beneficiaries of phased retirement

On September 1st, 2023, phased retirement will be open to new beneficiaries.

Thus, will now be able to access progressive retirement:
- liberal professionals under the CNAV-PL: notaries, veterinarians, doctors, dental surgeons, midwives, etc.
- lawyers.
- employees who are not subject to working hours, provided they carry out this activity exclusively: sales representatives, freelancers, employees paid on piecework rates or yield rates or on a commission basis, etc.

An adjustment of the conditions of access to phased retirement

The age of access to progressive retirement will still correspond to the statutory retirement age reduced by 2 years. But this age will increase mechanically since the legal retirement age will gradually increase from 62 to 64 years from September 1st, 2023.

The minimum insurance period required to benefit from phased retirement will remain fixed at 150 quarters of pension insurance validated in one or more compulsory basic old-age pension insurance schemes.

Reduced activity

As part of his/her phased retirement, an employee will have to keep working between 40% and 80% of the working time, legal or conventional, corresponding to full-time. For example, an employee subject to the legal working time of 35 hours per week may, in the context of phased retirement, work between 14 and 28 hours per week.

As for employees not subject to working hours and self-employed, they will have to meet two conditions to claim phased retirement:
- their annual professional income for the penultimate calendar year preceding the date of application for phased retirement is greater than or equal to 40% of the gross minimum wage calculated on the legal working hours.
- their professional income is between 40% and 80% of the average professional income of the 5 preceding years the request for phased retirement.